Beauty in the Breakdown
by Pretty P
Summary: HP-IY x-over Kagome, held for her own safety in a strange school hundreds of miles from home, meets a boy who is more than he seems. Dra/Kag Story told in snippets.
1. The Boy With RainCloud Eyes

-1AN/ My first HP/IY crossover. Thought I'd break this Kag/Hiei streak I've been on lately. I'm working on a full-length story for the pairing, but am having trouble getting through the first set-up chapter (I just wanna get to the juicy stuff in the middle!). Maybe getting away from it for a while and then going back with fresh eyes will help.

Anyway, this will be a series of interconnected one-shots. I know where I want to take this, just not how I want to get there. So, updates will be sporadic; I'll write when an idea strikes me. Also, I haven't read the last book, because I'm a coward. So, I don't have a specific timeline for this. -shrugs- Maybe the sixth book.

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**Beauty in the Breakdown**

_The Boy With Rain Cloud Eyes_

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Kagome knew there was a good reason she'd been told to stay out of the sight of the students at the school, but only coming out of her room at night was becoming more and more unbearable each day. Nonetheless, she was trapped here at this odd, magical school in this foreign land whether she liked it or not.

She'd already been here a few weeks, but she had yet to become accustomed to this strange, new direction her life had taken. She missed the birds and the flowers and the trees. She missed the feeling of the sun on her skin, the warmth that soothed her aching soul and the light that illuminated all the darkness in her life. And before all the other precious things she'd lost to the Jewel of Four Souls, she missed her family and her friends. Knowing her loved ones and her old life were now and forever beyond her reach almost broke the young woman. But, she was strong. She had a purpose. Herself besides, there were still other lives at stake in this deadly game of chase her life had become, and Kagome had never been one to turn her back on her responsibilities.

The sun had sunk over the horizon and the last vestiges of its orange glow trickled into her single window that she'd thrown open wide that morning before she went to sleep. Last night's heavy spring rain had left the world outside her window bejeweled with little diamonds. The smell of the sun-soaked garden several stories below and the damp vines climbing the walls of the castle did nothing to soothe her. Instead, it only stirred memories of her days in the Feudal Era and made her heart ache for that freedom once more.

Restless, Kagome threw off her blankets and sat up in her bed. There was no way she was getting back to sleep anytime soon. Her eyes searched around the room for a distraction. She shivered as a too-cool breeze blew in and slid off the tall mattresses with some trouble. Crossing the room, she pulled the window closed and latched it. Then, she padded softly to the fireplace and poked around at the dying embers. With effort, she put on a couple more logs and used the matches on the mantle to light them.

As the air started to warm again, the young miko began wandering around the room, contemplating her options. Her eyes were distant and unfocused as she trailed her fingers idly over the cold, iron bedposts and the worn wood of the small desk in the corner. A quill and several sheets of parchment, things that had taken a while to become accustomed to since she came to England, were scattered across the surface, untouched for the most part. Sometimes she wrote to Kouga or Sesshoumaru, the only survivors from that lost era, but she didn't like to trouble them. Kouga had a family now, and Sesshoumaru was always so busy. She hadn't told them where she was (Dumbledore had "advised" against that, what with Naraku still somewhere out there), and what she could say in the letters was limited. Usually, the extent of their correspondence was something along the lines of "I'm alive; how are you?"

But impersonal letters to one-time acquaintances in far-off lands wasn't enough for the little miko. Kagome was a social creature; she liked to be around other people and always loved to be right in the middle of things. It was so quiet and lonely up in this room.

She perused the small collection of English books on the shelf above the desk. Most of them had been given to her by Dumbledore and a few of the other professors in the school to help acquaint her with the culture. For the first time in her life, she was thankful for the required English courses in junior high school. However, she'd already read them all once through and none of them interested her enough to have a second look.

Heaving a sigh, she pulled open one of the drawers of the desk and retrieved a little box of chocolate goodies. Kagome plopped down heavily on the rug in front of the fireplace and began snacking on the contents of the shiny, foiled box. After she'd polished off the last of the chocolates, she stretched out on her back and extended her feet to warm in front of the flames. For a while, she watched the shadows dance across the ceiling.

But her legs were restless. She needed to move, she needed to do something! But the only thing to do around this place was bathe, and she'd already taken a dip early that morning. Sighing, she decided an extra bath had never hurt anyone and stretched her muscles before rising to her feet. Kagome padded softly to the entrance and slid her feet into her white slippers. She pulled a white satin robe from the peg on the wall and wrapped it around herself just in case she ran into any of the professors. It wouldn't do to have anyone seeing her in only her silk nightgown.

Cautiously, the miko pushed open the painting of a young woman and her little black dog and peaked through the hole. She checked to make sure there was no one in the hall before slipping through the portal herself. Replacing the painting on the wall, she whispered to the slumbering woman, "I'm going to bathe, Miss Anne. I'll be back in a little while." The woman merely waved her hand sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes.

Kagome rolled her eyes and turned to start down the hall. The corridors at this time were dark and yawningly empty, the scant moonlight that streamed through the high windows illuminating a thin, silver path but leaving the walls in eerie, black shadow. When she'd first arrived here, the miko had gotten lost more often than not on her way to the bathroom or the kitchens, but by now she was very familiar with the west wing and could usually navigate the maze-worthy halls of Hogwarts with relative ease.

Coming to a set of stone stairs, Kagome once again glanced behind her and searched the shadows with narrowed eyes to check for any stray students. Dumbledore had told her that the students here had a curfew and so weren't allowed out in the halls after dark. He'd also said that even if she did happen upon a student or two, in the darkness of the castle's night-drawn halls, anyone who saw her would probably write her off as a ghost.

Satisfied that she was alone in the hall, the young miko quickly descended the steps. She shivered as the air became chilled the farther she went into the hall. This whole section was underground, apparently, and maintained a constant cool temperature that bordered on uncomfortable to a warm-blooded creature. Kagome couldn't wait to sink into a hot bath.

Finally, she reached the large, wooden door of the bathroom and pushed it open with some difficulty. It was even heavier than it looked and made a horrible scraping sound against the cold stone floor. She thought nothing of the steam that rolled out of the open door as she stepped through the threshold.

Kagome, though, immediately stopped in her tracks and gasped loudly when she saw that the bath was already occupied by… a boy! And boy, was he!

His back turned to her, he glowed in the colored moonlight that streamed in through the stained-glass window above the large, circular bath. Only knee-deep in the steaming, scented water that still flowed from the many faucets around the edges of the pool, he looked to the lonely little miko like some kind of god. He was tall, thin and lean, and pale as moonbeams. He had platinum hair and pale gray eyes the color of rain clouds. She might have been imagining it, but they looked quite sad under the veil of snowy lashes.

The boy dropped the little wooden bucket he'd been using to wet himself into the water with a splash that sent little droplets of water at Kagome's feet. He turned toward her with an arrogant scowl that quickly melted into confusion when he saw the blushing woman in the doorway.

"I- I-" Kagome, in her mortification, struggled to find the words in English she wanted to say. "G-Gomennasai!" she sputtered, bowing profusely to the stranger. She didn't give him time to respond or herself any more time to ogle him before she was out door, slamming it behind her. She ran back up the hallway and the stairs and didn't stop until she turned a corner. Panting and red-faced, the young miko leaned against the cool stone wall.

She must have looked like such a fool standing there gawking! And then she couldn't even produce the words to apologize! Cautiously, she peaked around the corner. He hadn't followed her, thank goodness! Kagome laughed sarcastically at herself. What had she expected, for him to come chasing after her naked and dripping with suds?!

After she had calmed down, the girl shook her head at her own thoughts and quietly made her way back to her room. She'd planned to stop by the kitchens, too, and get some dinner and rations for tomorrow, but was too mortified to make the trip now. What if she ran into that boy again? No, she just couldn't risk it.

Later that night, Kagome laid in her bed contemplating. Even if it hadn't been an ideal first meeting, it had been an exhilarating experience just to see another human being. She wondered about the pale boy and what he'd been doing out of his dorm after curfew. Was he maybe an instructor here at the school? Was he sneaking out?

The question that bothered Kagome the most, the one that weighed most heavily on her red, red heart, was why his eyes had looked so sad and so lost.

When she finally drifted into sleep, her slumber was restless as it always was. But this time, instead of the usual demons, her dreams were plagued by a pale specter with rain cloud eyes.

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	2. Dreaming of Golden Moons

-1AN/ Wow, this went over well. You're lucky, too, my beloved reviewers, because I happened to have another idea smack me in the head today and your lovely, wonderful reviews inspired me to write it out! =) I love you all!

Sorry, no real Dra/Kag interaction, but there is a hint of _something_. Also, I changed something in the last chapter. Originally, I had written the setting in spring, but I realized this wouldn't work for what I wanted to do and changed it to late summer/early autumn.

Written to: The Mummers' Dance by Loreena McKennit.

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**Beauty in the Breakdown**

_Dreaming of Golden Moons_

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For a week, Kagome had stayed to the shadows when she ventured out into the halls at night. After her latest mortifying encounter with that boy, she'd wanted to stay holed up in her room for the next decade, no matter how intriguing he was. But, baths and food were a necessity, so she'd resolved to be extra careful so as not to run into anyone else. The miko silently marveled at her own singular talent for embarrassing herself. The wonders never ceased, it seemed.

So, having not seen the boy or anyone else except Filch and Mrs. Norris in the halls, she felt comfortable enough to relax her guard and enjoy her leisurely stroll across the school. Earlier she had indulged in a long soak in a bathroom she'd come across on one of the upper floors. She'd had to go searching for a new one after the incident, because she wasn't going to risk walking in on that boy again. The one she'd found was admittedly less luxurious and certainly a longer walk from her room, but it was closer to the kitchens.

Speaking of… Kagome put a hand to her stomach as it rumbled emptily. Luckily, she was already heading in the direction of the kitchens and only had to descend a long flight of stairs just ahead to get to the main entrance hall. From there, she turned left down a torch-lit corridor before coming to a large painting of a bowl of fruit. When she looked behind her, she could have sworn she saw movement in the shadow of a menacing-looking suit of armor near the entrance to the corridor, but easily shrugged it off as a trick of the dancing, orange light from the torches.

Reaching up to the painting, she tickled the belly of the huge, green pear and wasn't surprised when it squirmed and giggled and a wooden door handle suddenly appeared. Smiling in satisfaction, she was just about to close her fingers around the handle when the door creaked open by itself.

Biting down a gasp, she scrambled to duck behind a black marble statue of a gargoyle. She heard two identical voices arguing in hushed tones, but there was a distinctly teasing lilt to the tone. Kagome ducked down again as two tall, red-haired boys stepped through the door. Curiously, she peaked over one of the wings of the statue to see them walking with an identical confident swagger down the corridor toward the main hall, laughing at some private joke between bites of pie.

After the two were out of sight, the young miko let out a relieved sigh and stepped out from behind the statue. Smoothing the wrinkles from her nightgown and robe, she again approached the door to the kitchens with slightly more caution. Her stomach fluttered for a moment just before her hand wrapped around the handle. Pausing, she searched the empty corridor again with weary eyes, but found nothing. Shrugging, she mentally wrote the strange feeling off as nerves and opened the door and stepped into the kitchens.

When the elves saw her, they looked to her as one with a friendly chorus of "Hello, Miss Kagome," and then promptly turned to continue their work. There were at least a hundred of the little creatures bustling about the vast kitchens cleaning counters and tables, washing dishes from dinner, and preparing the morning's breakfast.

A tall, multicolored hat appeared between the long tables in the middle of the room, quickly closing the distance to her, and Kagome smiled fondly. An elf was soon standing before her, a head shorter than her and dressed in the most ridiculous, mismatched array of odd clothing she'd ever seen. Warmly, she greeted him with a pat on the head, "Hello, Dobby!"

The little elf gave her a crooked-toothed smile and greeted her, "Hello, Miss Kagome! Dobby is missed you!"

"But I was just here last night, Dobby," Kagome giggled.

The elf just shook his head, his large ears flapping, and rushed to bring her a large whicker basket. He handed it to the miko with his knobby fingers and told her, "Dobby gives Miss Kagome peaches and grapes, a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, raisin muffins, and a chocolate pie."

"Oh, you remembered my favorites! Thank you, Dobby," she smiled down at the elf.

"Dobby always remembers, Miss Kagome," he squeaked with no small amount of pride.

"Dobby, are those new socks?" the miko asked, her attention having strayed to the elf's mismatched socks, one red with white and orange stripes and the other decorated in a floral pink pattern.

The little house elf puffed up. "Oh, yes, Dobby made these himself, he did!"

"Wow, I like them! They're very handsome, Dobby. Well," she said, turning back toward the door, "I need to be going back to my room. It won't be long before the students get up."

Dobby escorted her the short distance to the exit with many humble goodbyes and good wishes. When she once again found herself in the hall, the pear door closing behind her, Kagome allowed herself a private laugh. She had grown very fond of that little elf, and for all his oddities he was still very sweet. In a way, he sort of reminded her of her Grandpa. An empty ache beat through her heart at his memory.

Picking grapes out of the basket as she went along, Kagome exited the dark corridor, lost in her thoughts. She drifted aimlessly for a while, letting her feet carry her where they would, and soon found herself in the Great Hall.

On her first day here, Dumbledore had kindly shown her around the castle. It had been late summer, a few days before the students would arrive, he'd explained. The little miko, her face sallow with tears, had still been too distraught to pay much attention as he escorted her through the halls. She did remember, however, that he'd said this particular room was where the students took their meals.

Their were four long tables, one for every house she supposed, and over each hung series of differently colored tapestries. They seemed, however, to be suspended in midair. The ceiling was noticeably absent and in its place was a beautiful view of the clear night sky. The young woman gazed up at the open ceiling in delighted awe.

The black, lightless sky was bejeweled with pinpricks of white radiance. The moon seemed to Kagome so large and tangible hanging amongst its own silver breath, half hidden in a blue veil. Never taking her eyes from the sight, she lowered herself to sit on the cold, stone floor, her hunger forgotten as she set the basket down beside her.

For a while, the miko watched the night sky with unblinking blue eyes. When her neck became stiff, she simply laid back on the stone floor to a relieve the strain. In the Feudal Era, she had always been quite fond of the night sky, especially when she knew Inuyasha was somewhere there in the trees watching over her. It was so easy to imagine she was there again, and she did for a long while.

The only thing that broke the illusion was the quiet. During her adventures in the past, the sounds of the forest, the crickets and the wind in the leaves and the little animals moving about, had been a soothing lullaby for her weary ears. But the walls around her were cold and silent. Still, it removed her if only for a while.

Every so often an owl would fly overhead with a letter in its beak or tied to its leg, and a smile would alight on Kagome's lips. How she envied those owls! As the moon moved out of her sight and violet light began to bleed into the sky, the birds came more and more frequently and Kagome knew her time was up. Quietly she rose and retreated into her room before the halls would become swamped with sleepy students. She dreamed of the sky and the moon and the stars and would return their for many nights to come.

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